


Prairie Chickens

by taichara



Category: Jihai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 14:20:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8670856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/pseuds/taichara
Summary: Aoi might be getting better at trusting Dis, but maaaaybe he should ask more questions sometimes.You know, for clarity.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kalloway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/gifts).



_Uggghhhh._

_What the hell! It's a trick, it has to be!_

What a good half of Aoi's brain -- the part that was currently recoiling in aghast horror -- _wanted_ to be screaming at himself was probably something more along the lines of _'that goddamn bastard tricked me!'_.

Unfortunately for that half of Aoi's brain, right now, even when being faced with the unspeakable, he couldn't make himself call Disfield a bastard.

But oh how he really _really_ wanted to --

-*-

"Another shopping trip? So soon?"

That was unexpected. So unexpected that Aoi wandered away from the stovetop (currently occupied by yet another iteration of the one dish he could cook with any reliability) to physically check the storage pantry. But it looked fine -- better than fine, even. The last outing they'd made, he'd felt like the two of them had hauled back an entire second diner's worth of food.

Occupied by a steadily-growing pile of slivered veggies and a very sharp cleaver, Dis didn't look up from the countertop, though his off-handed wave back towards the range spoke volumes. Aoi rolled his eyes and meandered back to the stove. Clearly that was what Dis wanted; the moment Aoi's started to stir the pot's contents, that was when he answered.

"We're not feeling any lack, if that's what you're worried about. I've just heard that one of the local specialties cropped up in Isefeln again, and I thought we'd go take a look after lunch delivery tomorrow. What do you think?"

_... Isefeln's, what, maybe two hours away out into the boonies?_

Ponder, ponder, while he stirred and tasted and added a few more seasonings here and there. Dis was chopping away, apparently content to let him stew over the question; well, okay then.

_I don't remember hearing anything special about the place, but it's not like I ever paid attention to special or fancy food before. It'd be nice to just go off on a day trip, too. Not like we'd even be closed much more than usual._

_Eh, sure, why not._

Food was done; Aoi hauled the pot off the burner (both hands, this time; he'd learned his lesson) and set it aside, then leaned against the countertop next to the range, arms crossed.

"I guess so, sure. So what's out in Isefeln, anyway? I thought they mostly did vegetable crops out there."

Was Dis smiling behind his hair?

"Normally that's the case. Every few years, though, the Isefelni put in less time for their usual crops and work on livestock. They call them 'prairie chickens', and some years the demand's high enough that the entire population of the things gets snapped up quickly.

"This time's different, from what I've heard, and I want to check the markets in Isefeln before the wind changes."

"You sound really interested in these chicken things, Dis."

The sound of chopping stopped; Dis had run out of leafy 'victims'. Reaching for an onion to dice and add to the pile, he favoured Aoi with one of his lopsided little smiles ('so he wasn't smiling earlier?') and worked the onion's skin free with the edge of the cleaver.

"Believe it or not, they remind me of one of the few good -- or at least interesting -- things about the war. That's when I learned to broaden my tastes in food, for starters. Not Tris, though, if you're wondering; he thinks the whole idea's disgusting."

Aoi blinked. Well that was interesting. Then again, Tris was _weird_ and god only knew what his complaint about Isefeln chickens would be.

"Yeah, well, he's not going so ...?"

"Heh, fair. It's decided, then. Tomorrow we're off to Isefeln."

-*-

The next morning was bright and sunny and altogether more inviting for a day-trip than Aoi had expected. That was kind of nice, all things considered.

For the first half of the day, everything was normal enough (which was also good as far as he was concerned); package up all the parts of lunches that they hadn't prepared the night before, load up the car, and head off to the church to get surrounded by eager, chatty kids, including Zion. 

Aoi, unpacking the hatch's contents, made a point of keeping a lid on his thoughts around Zion this time, if only because if the kid caught any interesting stray thought about the trip he'd probably say something to Tris, and since Tris apparently thought prairie chickens were disgusting he'd probably make a production out of the whole thing as another one of his 'jokes'. Which would eat up time, and be annoying as hell besides.

So he kept his thoughts firmly to himself, did his part in feeding folks for the day, and -- all things being equal -- was just as glad once he and Dis were finally on the road.

There were no checkpoints between Lezvalenz and Isefeln (no need for them), so the two-hour trip consisted mainly of small talk and a lot of Aoi staring out the window and watching the countryside gradually look more and more like, well, _countryside_. Lots of meadows, fields that were more obviously under cultivation -- he couldn't recognize crops from the road, of course -- a few tumbled-down farmhouses out in the grass with trees starting to grow through them. 

It was actually pretty relaxing.

But then they entered Isefeln, Dis made a beeline for the outdoors market with Aoi in tow, and everything came to a screaming halt.

-*-

"You ... you ..."

"Aoi? Are you okay?"

Dis sounded concerned. Hell he _looked_ concerned, which was more than Aoi was willing to say about the evil old hag manning the produce booth they were parked in front of. _She_ looked like she was ready to break out cackling any second. Probably was.

"You -- what the _hell_ , are you serious?!"

They'd strolled right on up and Dis had cheerfully requested to see a sample of the year's prairie chickens before purchasing a few bushels. _Bushels_. And then the old hag, grinning with pleasure, walked into the back of the booth and came back with long strings of ... of ...

Aoi had no clue what the things were. But he knew damn well they weren't _chickens_. Chickens didn't have six legs and beady glittery eyes and long sausage bodies and leathery wings. You didn't hang up strings of chickens like red peppers. Whatever the damn things were, they were the size of his hand and -- and --

And did he just hear Dis say he'd _buy_ the creepy things?!

... Apparently he did. The ol' hag was hauling up burlap sacks -- presumably full of the so-called 'chickens' -- and Dis had just ... asked him to help bring them to the car?

What?

"Aoi, take a breath. You're going to turn blue."

"But those are --"

"Prairie chickens."

Slowly, dawning realization seemed to creep across Dis' puzzled face while the old lady laughed and laughed like she saw this _all_ the time.

"... You don't have to eat them, if it helps."

"Damn right I won't!"


End file.
